Genesis 33:10 “No, please!” said Jacob. “If I have found favor in your eyes, accept this gift from me. For to see your face is like seeing the face of God, now that you have received me favorably.
Jacob’s comment in verse 11 resonates with me this morning. I do love that Jacob has been so blessed that he is sharing his abundance with Esau. Interestingly, though, Mark 12:44 comes to mind, “For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.
Genesis 33:11 Please accept the present that was brought to you, for God has been gracious to me and I have all I need.” And because Jacob insisted, Esau accepted it.
Nothing Jacob gives his brother is a sacrifice. It all comes out of his abundance. Does that matter to God? Does that somehow negate this reconciliation scene between Jacob and Esau? And what of the name change in chapter 32? Verse 28 says “ “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel,” and yet every single mention of him in chapter 33 is of Jacob, not Israel. Are the two issues related?
Genesis 33:12-13 Then Esau said, “Let us be on our way; I’ll accompany you.” But Jacob said to him, “My lord knows that the children are tender and that I must care for the ewes and cows that are nursing their young. If they are driven hard just one day, all the animals will die.
Precious Savior, Thank You that Your word is active and alive, that Your word takes time and study and intentionality to understand. Thank You that each pass through Your word brings new insight and new questions. Help me to keep looking, keep studying, keep seeking, keep finding You on every page. Thank You, Jesus. Amen.
Genesis 33:14-15 So let my lord go on ahead of his servant, while I move along slowly at the pace of the flocks and herds before me and the pace of the children, until I come to my lord in Seir.” Esau said, “Then let me leave some of my men with you.” “But why do that?” Jacob asked. “Just let me find favor in the eyes of my lord.”
Have a blessed day.